fabs-fromfigandme.jpg

Hi.

Welcome to my dollmaking journal. I write doll stories, share tips on this creative journey and so much more. Hope you enjoy your visit!.

Gently rock the baby...

Rocking the baby (via Fig&me)

Shhh, gently rock the baby. That's it, very gently. Now let go and watch the crib rock itself a few times. Mesmerizing, isn't it? I know. I have nothing else to do either. But watching chubby babies, tucked away in hand knit blankets is on the top of the list today.

Wooden doll crib (via Fig&me).

Walnut and bookend details, by Fig&me

A sweet little baby, by Fig&me

A Fig&me little baby doll.

For doll play, by Fig&me

A few weeks ago, a friend of my mother in law contacted me to ask me about creating a small doll for her granddaughter. The doll in question she was admiring is about 22" tall in my weighted baby doll pattern. I told her I was going to try and re-size it and see what happened. Then the super talented woodsmith plopped a beautiful rocking crib on my studio table. Neither of them had talked to each other, and so I took it as a sign that a smaller baby doll needed to be made asap. 

Re-sizing a pattern can be super easy, as easy as sewing inside the pattern lines, or shrinking the pattern pieces on a copier machine. However, I didn't go about doing that, because I don't trust those kind of methods to give me the right proportions or feel. But, luckily for me, this time my long and painful method turned out quite successfully. I blame the crib in my studio, as it inspired me, and not-so-gently nudged me into making a doll to be put inside. 

Now, with Baby Lou in my arms, we are about to embark on the always nightmarish task of creating bedding for the wooden creations. I struggle so much to come up with items that match the beautiful simplicity of the wood grain, that don't take away from the beauty of what my husband creates, heirloom one of a kind pieces. And, I also have to knit (like a mad woman) for Little Baby Lou. She wants booties, and a hat and maybe some knitted soakers. 

Baby Lou and her crib, by Fig&me

Walnut and ambrosia maple doll crib, by Fig&me

Don't wake the baby! (via Fig&me)

And of course, since I had to make Baby Lou to go in her crib, I had to make a second baby just because. I might even turn him into the first baby boy ever to come out of my hands. Big plans at hand. 

As is the custom with my husband's creations, Baby Lou and her Rocking Crib will be available via auction as soon as I am done creating bedding and clothes. But my other baby will be available "comment style" here on the blog shortly after. Both babies are made with cotton jersey, and measure about 14" long (but are on the chunky side, not of the slender type). They are not weighted, as I envision them for littler hands to be played with. Their legs and arms are quite bent, they sit very nicely, but they prefer to lie down for naps. They have long fabric joins to allow for a lot of movement and all limbs are machine-sewn into the torso for a very long-lasting friend to tot around. Now wish me luck sewing and knitting, and keeping Beatrice from laying her hands on them (she just thinks that whatever comes out of my hands is for her!). Who can blame her?. 

And the weekend arrives.

Ten Little Lambs.